Reading Fate's Gamble
by BladeofHell56
Summary: The cast of Fate's gamble 2 have been summoned to a room by an unknown being in order to read about the past of the mysterious boy they'd brought into their world. Fate's Gamble is written by Lupine Horror(an yes I do have permission) please enjoy the original work as well
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Albus Dumbledore hadn't felt the urge to break out the fire whisky this strongly since the death of his sister. How..how could things have possibly gone so wrong.

With the death of young Harry the prophecy couldn't be fulfilled and the dark lord would run amok unopposed.

Dumbledore could not allow this to happen, and so had no choice but to go to his next course of action

If this Harry could not fulfill the prophecy, he'd just get another who could.

Oh sure maybe it was a bit morally reprehensible to even entertain the thought of dragging another young man into their war, especially one who had already managed to get passed his own and find peace, but there was simply no other option.

He was sure the boy would understand that in the end, all was for the greater good.

Except he hadn't.

The boy, and at first Albus even had trouble believing the feminine boy was in fact male, had been completely uncooperative from the second he'd arrived, at first he'd thought it was simple childish rebellion but then, then it simply spiraled downwards.

The boy, was unquestionably dark.

For Merlin's sake he claimed to be a Magus! No forget magus he claimed to be a Dead Apostle, and an Ancestor at that, not to mention his companions, his patronus, and the indecent from the other day, the boy had summoned demons! ACTUAL DEMONS!

He needed some way to guide the lad back to the light, but how?!

He quite honestly new nothing about the lad, or what made him the way he is, he needed information dammit, he needed to know about this Harry Potter from another world.

 **"And are you certain that you are ready to learn such secrets"**

Albus jumped in his seat and spun around, searching for the intruder, their was no one else in the office.

As his eyes caught the state of his office they widened

The portraits, Fawkes, they were all frozen.

 **"I've frozen time in place for this meeting"**

"Impossible"

 **"I assure you Mr. Dumbledore it is very possible"**

"What do you want?"

 **"Why I'm here to grant you and various others their wish, more specifically, your wish to know more about the Harry Potter that you summoned and oh so foolishly sought to control"**

Albus' eyes widened, before they narrowed in contemplation

"And what exactly, would you gain from this Mr..."

 **"Observer, just call me The Observer, as for what I gain from this, the answer is amusement"**

"Amusement"

 **"I am old, I have seen much, but most importantly, I am bored, I wish to alleviate said boredom and my favorite method to do so is through you humans"**

"You humans? You are not human then, if so what are you?"

 **"My species is irrelevant Albus, what is relevant is how much entertainment can be gained from watching over you mortals, and my curiosity on how you react to certain scenarios, placing you mortals in said scenarios is, I suppose one could say, my hobby"**

"I see, and the present scenario?"

 **"You and certain others of my choosing shall be reading a book, a book detailing his life up till the point you people summoned him, the rest have already been informed as you have, how will you react I wonder, when you learn just who, and what, you summoned"**

A deep laughter echoed out as the office vanished in a swirl of colors before all faded to white.

A completely white room, around him others appeared in flashes of light

Severus Snape

Lily Potter

James Potter

Hermione Granger

Sirius Black

Ron Weasley

Rose Potter

Blake Potter

 **"You who have gathered here are the one's whose potential reactions to the knowledge you are about to obtain I have deemed to be the most amusing, you shall take turns reading the chapters and everyone must read at least once, others may or may not join you as the story progresses, some perhaps, might not even be from your own world, but for now, Happy reading~"**

With that the room suddenly shifted into something resembling a muggle living room, chairs, couches and a table in the center all appeared, and on the wall hung what seemed to be a large portrait but it only displayed a black screen, sitting there on the table was a black book.

They all regarded eachother curiously as they seated themselves and Dumbledore reached out and picked up the book, on the cover in archaic, red letters, were two words.

"Fate's Gamble"

* * *

 **Well there's your prologue**

 **Thanks again for allowing me to write this Lupine Horror**


	2. Chapter 1

**Wow you guys were certainly excited for this fic huh? Though to be honest I'd be if I was in your position to, I loved Fate's Gamble and have wanted to see a reading of it done for a long time, but no matter how long I waited it never came to be, people instead do readings for other fics, its disappointing.**

 **Finally I decided that since no one else would do it, I'd take a crack at it!**

 **To be honest though I'm not so sure I can do it justice since dialogue's never been my strong point, but I'll try my best!**

 **And in the event that I end up blowing this I hope someone with more skill than me will see it and decide to take a shot.**

 **Wish me luck people**

* * *

"Fate's Gamble" Dumbledore read out to the room.

There was a pause as everyone tried to think of what to say in this situation, finally it was Lily who broke the silence

So, who wants to read first?"

"I'll start, I want to know how my son could have possibly turned into...that." James said taking the book from Dumbledore and opening it to page 1

 _Chapter 1 – The Path Diverges_

 _Zelretch or, as he is sometimes known, the Wizard Marshall was contemplating a curiosity of his._

Several people shivered at that, even the dullest among them *cough*James*cough* knew that a curious or bored Zelretch was a Zelretch no one wanted to be anywhere near.

 _As most in the Clock Tower know, when Zelretch gets an idea then running is most likely futile. Fortunately, for them at least, the Wizard Marshall had directed his attention elsewhere._

 _It had been a curiosity of his to mess with alternate dimensions on occasion, but he had thought little of it until now. He had been relaxing and thinking on his long past and, quite by accident, he found himself reminiscing in thoughts of his battle with Crimson moon Brunestud, and the price that had fallen on him. It has been remarked that since then the Wizard Marshall has been slower or weaker but few could fathom a reason why._

James paused. "Weaker? The man is heralded as one of the most powerful creatures alive and that's considered weaker? What was he like before?"

 _He was the Zelretch! He had mastery over his specific true magic, the Kaleidoscope, didn't he?_

 _"_ Right?!"

"No one disagreed with you dear" Lily chimed

 _The truth however is that the price that was paid for defeating Crimson Moon Brunestud was high. He had had to connect to his alternate selves throughout the multi-verse and they combined all their prana to put an end to the stalemate that it had thus far been. The price was a heavy one as a number of his alternates had ended their lives in that fight._

Dumbledore blinked at that, as did James, Ron and Sirius, before Sirius furrowed his brow.

"That can't be right" he muttered. He knew who and what the Crimson Moon was, he doubted there was anyone in the magical community who didn't, it was also known that Zelretch had been the one responsible for its defeat, but

"He sacrificed many of his own lives and so much of his power to bring him down" Lily said

That was...actually a very light thing to do.

But he was a Dead Apostle right? How could a dark creature have made such a noble decision?

Shaking his head James decided to think on such things later.

 _It was this that the Wizard Marshall was currently contemplating: If there are worlds where he died, then they would be different to the one he inhabits, eventually becoming so different that they become almost unrecognisable. This leads to the idea that, somewhere in the multi-verse limited, there might be worlds where he and his selves no longer exist._

 _It was a perplexing thought. Or, at least, he thought it a perplexing thought to think, and a thought that he did not think upon was a thought wasted... he thought. His idea was this: If there are realities in which he no longer existed then were there realities in which he never existed?_

 _He was bored and curious. A very bad combination, especially when one forgot that this was the Wizard Marshall, the great troll Zelretch, who was in this state. It was this that led the rather aged man to collect to himself as much prana as he could and, instead of focusing it on a reality as he usually did when utilizing the Kaleidoscope, he focused it on the exact opposite of what he would usually do._

Everyone, even Ron and Snape leaned forward in anticipation

 _Nothing happened._

And promptly deflated

Ron scoffed "What a rip"

 _With a lazy sigh the Wizard Marshall looked a trifle disappointed and went to get out of the cosy fireside chair he was currently ensconced in._

 _xxxxx_

 _At this point I would like to point out that at times Fate is a real bitch, especially when she misses her monthly ice-cream guzzling fest due to over-working._

"Wait fate's real, like an actual person?" Sirius piped in

"I-it would appear so" Lily muttered as a thought came to all of them

Fate=Prophecy, Prophecy=unkilleable Voldemort and dead Harry

 _'Wow Fate IS a bitch'_

Elsewhere a certain aspect of existence felt an inexplicable urge to screw over a bunch of people

 _Fate had noticed this large amount of prana hanging useless and already beginning to dissipate and decided to have a little fun. She was rather sorry for the trouble she had to cause one green-eyed child she liked to keep a motherly eye on._

"At least she feels sorry for it" Hermione muttered

 _Though she wasn't allowed to interfere directly as her existence as a concept forbid it does not mean that she couldn't get a little creative when an opportunity arose, an opportunity like this!_

 _So moving with as much haste as she could she gathered all the prana there was (and there was a damn sight more than she really was expecting from a mortal realm!) and funnelled it all towards her desire. She may be unable to act when she wanted to but the rules never said anything about using a mortal's emissions to her advantage._

 _She thought of what she could do with all of this prana and then thought of that little green-eyed orphan she liked keeping an eye on. She cast a critical eye on the prana she had collected._

 _"Should be good enough to alter the destiny of about three dozen all told or at least put a blip in the damn thing"_

"Wait what? Can she do that, there's gotta be some kind of existential rule about that!"

 _So saying she funnelled the prana she had gathered out into the multi-verse, specifically at the 36 most unfortunate alternates of the child she had decided to claim as her duty, even beyond the norm._

 _She waited with baited breath._

 _She waited once again after taking another breath._

 _And then she felt the changes. Some were simply minor things that would escalate in due time. One such was a cat Animagus delivering a letter instead of a half-giant, one was a chance conversation with a snake at age nine, one was getting into a car accident that was being driven by a pair of dentists and their bushy-haired daughter_

"What?!"

"It's a completely separate reality Ms. Granger" Snape scoffed and several people jumped, having forgotten he was there

 _and another was passing out with heat exhaustion and fatigue in sight of a nosy librarian._

 _Some, however, enacted greater changes in a more immediate time frame, and not all of them where pleasant. This was the risk of destiny, it will be fulfilled one way or another, but dammit if it won't fight you for every inch it can give and remain as damn ambiguous as it can right 'till the end. One such was the awakening of a soul fragment inside the boy that aggravated his mind until he became a piece of the soul fragment, an extension of its will. This soul however didn't want to play nicely with it's greater counterpart and would end in a bloody war spanning four decades and leaving the earth drowning in a sea of blood that flowed from the cadavers of almost seven billion human corpses._

"..."

"I-"

"Read Potter!"

For once, James actually did as Snape demanded

 _Another would spark the paranoia of an old man with a long white beard that would then build until our young hero would have to face not one but two dark lords simultaneously, even if one of them had an army of mutated and reinforced giant lemon drops for minions._

"Oh dear" Said bearded old man muttered as the Potter twins nearly collapsed in laughter

"Girls it's not funny!" James yelled

"Isn't it?"

"Think about it dad-"

"Professor Dumbledore-"

"Leading an army of mutated lemon drops"

Several people pictured it in their heads for a while, then Snape snorted and several people joined the twins or managed to restrain themselves to some chuckling, even Dumbledore found it somewhat amusing

 _None of this was what had captured Fate's attention right now. There was one reality, which had warped and twisted itself almost inside out before settling. What caught her attention here was that she could no longer sense anything from this reality but an intense sense of joy and sorrow, life and death, right and wrong. She focused completely here and came across a fierce pair of burning green eyes staring back at her with such potential for both benign and malignant ends. This world now balanced on a knife's edge and she had accidentally put the future of an entire reality into the hands of a now five year old boy._

The laughter died immediately as everyone focused on the book.

 _She glanced away in contemplation just in time to miss those green eyes flicker a penetrating grey, then purple, then back to green as they faded from her mind. This was most unexpected. The last thought she had on this reality before she decided to turn away to view the rest under her domain is just what would be so comforting about the scent of blood?_

 _But this is not the story of Fate, but of that one child that now holds the balance of the world. What will he do? Will he raze it to the ground? Will he build it up even grander than ever before? Will he rule over it? Will he be remembered in history as a great champion or will he be scorned as a monster? Or perhaps he will fade into the halls of history taking his legacy with him._

 _Only time will tell where even Fate can no longer see, But for now let us turn our gaze onto the world in question and see what fruit whether wholesome or rotten will be born from this ordeal._

"Are we finally going to see Harry then"

 _Harry Potter was no ordinary child. The neighbourhood of Privet Drive where he lived with his aunt and uncle at number four was as normal and regular as could possible be obtained while straitjackets for rosebushes had yet to be invented. The houses were identical right down to the door colour, everything was so exact that if it weren't for the different company cars parked outside you may be forgive for thinking this place a setting for dolls blown out of proportion._

"Ugh, how utterly boring" Sirius groaned and several had to agree

 _Harry however was not a regular child by any stretch of the imagination._

 _When at a distance he could be mistaken for homeless or perhaps, if he stood still, a scarecrow._

 _When one got closer however they would find themselves pinned against the nearest flat surface, like a bug under a microscope, when confronted by the piercing green eyes of this child. If one could allow their eyes to flicker up they would notice a jagged and ugly wound on his forehead that looked as fresh as it had the day he was left on the doorstep of his relatives. Thankfully his messy black hair covered said disfigurement, at least partly, from view._

The blank portrait gave a faint static sound before the image of a young Harry appeared in the frame

"So he did look like me before" James muttered

Lily grit her teeth at the thin, near starved appearance of her son, would this have been her Harry had she and James not survived all those years ago.

 _'Tuney how could you'_

James glanced at her worriedly, she'd apparently said that out loud, but decided to not comment

 _Appearance aside Harry was still abnormal by local definition. He had taught himself basic life skills ,as was necessary seeing as the Dursleys weren't going to waste time teaching him anything, such as potty training himself at a tender age quickly followed by basic reading and writing. His abilities in said fields were about the equivalent of a 'regular' nine year old._

"Extraordinary" muttered Dumbles slightly stunned

Perhaps the boys claims of extreme intelligence weren't as baseless as they'd thought

Though in the case of the twins and Lily this was merely confirmation of what they thought.

 _Whereas in a more normal household such dedication to self-improvement would have been praised in the Dursleys' it was punished instead. And punished most severely. How dare he be better at numbers than his precious angel of a cousin Dudley? How could he make his dear cousin look like an unintelligible monkey with brain damage?_

Ron snorted and was swiftly given a quick smack to the back of the head

 _How dare he out perform any of his cousin's darling playmates?_

 _Each repeated 'infraction' earned him a punishment._

Everyone's eyes narrowed at that. Punishment?

 _From lashing with a belt to starvation in the cupboard under the stairs where he slept at night_

Lily and James snarled "What?!" they yelled as angry tears gathered in Lily's eyes, her own sister!

Ron stared at the book with horrified wide eyes "That's just wrong!" he muttered

Hermione burst into tears, different or not that was still Harry being abused

Dumbledore seemed to age as he heard the words out of Jame's mouth

Snape didn't react outwardly beyond narrowing his eyes but the rage at the reminder of his own childhood was clear in his eyes

The twins much like Snape only narrowed their eyes and glanced at eachother, they hadn't known their teacher had such a rough start

 _Harry had felt it all and could not have cared less. In his young mind a family cared for their own and took care of them like the vague recollections he had of a red-headed woman's laughter or the chuckles of the messy-haired man with a mischievous grin adorning his face._

The two in question perked up

"He remembers us?" James asked stunned as Lily's tears renewed though in happiness this time

 _He had often thought long and hard on such topics when his behaviour warranted a long stint in his cupboard. He concluded that as family cares for their own and as the Dursleys didn't care for him, much the opposite in fact, then as far as he was concerned then they simply weren't family. If they didn't care for his achievements then so what?_

 _He would do his very best so that whoever would become his real family would be impressed and then he could know what a family was like. He could cocoon himself in them and their love of which he would freely return and any that would dare to harm his family would regret it most dearly._

 _It was on a day like any other when it happened. Coming home after school Harry had his nose in a book he had borrowed from the school library. They had been assigned to read the story by next week and highlight where they had difficulty for their English lesson. Harry wanted it over so he could read more interesting things than singing cheeses dancing with cats in dresses. Dudley had gotten home first so he could play on his brand new Atari ST and blow up aliens or some such on one of the inane games he usually plays._

 _Getting in the door Harry caught the whiff of alcohol in the air. Never a good sign, especially as uncle Vernon had a business deal to attend to today._

"Oh no" Lily muttered, having a bad feeling about this

"He wouldn't not to his own nephew" muttered DUmbledore

Snape snorted "You'd be surprised at just how much one would do to their _family_ sir."

 _Hoping to slip off to his cupboard unmolested he almost made it but just as he passed by the door to the living room he heard Vernon's slurred tones_

 _"BOY! GET IN HERE NOW!"_

"No, no, don't go" Rose muttered

"Yes, pretend you didn't hear it, or better yet, just run out the door and far away from there" Blake continued

 _Sighing in resignation Harry took off his bag and set it aside before going in to encounter Mount Vernon. It looked like an eruption was already in progress and judging by the number of empty beer bottles down the side of the chair today was not going to be an easy one nor would it be gentle._

"No no no no, please no" She was never a religious person, but Lily honestly prayed for nothing to happen to her alternate son

 _Harry looked up just in time to catch a glint of light before his uncle's belt impacted just above his eyes, very close to the scar that rested on his brow._

James choked, was this part of the reason the other Harry was so- He put down the book

"I can't read this anymore"

"T-The chapter's almost over, just keep going" Sirius pushed

With a shuddering breath James picked up the book

 _The pain was incredible and Harry saw lights flashing all around him as he tried to regain control of his faculties and rein in his nausea. Alas it was not to be._

 _As he managed to open his eyes again without wincing he looked up again at his uncle who became transfixed by his gaze before it further developed Vernon's rage._

 _"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU FREAK OF NATURE! IT'S YOUR UNNATURALNESS THAT IS AFFECTING THIS GOOD FAMILY AND BY GOD ABOVE YOU WILL BE PUNISHED!"_

 _With each word the belt came again and again, faster and more ferocious than ever before. It came down with a meaty thwack across his chest and a wince-inducing crack against his arms again and again until with the last bow it tore horizontally across his face the buckle catching against the whites of his eyes._

 _Writhing in pain he was barely aware of his Uncles ravings but by all hell he felt that last blow across his face. He was almost out of it as his uncle dragged him out into the passage and wrenched open the door of the cupboard, hinges and all, throwing young Harry bodily into the small space and further dazing him as Vernon replaced the door and ran to fetch boards and nails._

 _Incoherent on alcohol and rage Vernon babbled on and on "Stay in there forever!.. Never have to look in those god be damned eyes again... been too good to expect any better from an unnatural freak."_

"My baby, my poor baby" Lily was sobbing at this point along with Hermione, Rose and Blake were silently gritting their teeth, Dumbledore, James, Ron and Sirius felt sick and Snape just looked away clenching his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

No one deserved this

 _Everything darkening around him, Harry wished, he prayed with all his heart, that this truly was the end. An end to what he had suffered the last four years. An end to the abuse and trauma that had been his life so far._

 _Death had been ready to accept him with open arms and make a deal. She wished to avoid the master of Death irritation that so many of the boys alternates seemed to end up in but alas for Death one of his final thoughts were:_

 _'I wonder what a real family is like?'_

 _And his magic reacted._

 _Death was denied his chance, and the boy was whisked away from his cupboard, from his relatives, and even from England._

Relief flooded into everyone there

"Thank Merlin, he's out of that horrible place" muttered Hermione

"Yes but where did he end up" Ron chimed and nervous tension filled them

 _At this point several devices in the office of one Albus Dumbledore slowed and then stopped. Unfortunately for the Headmaster of Hogwarts it had been almost two years since he had last checked them and by now was confident enough in the wards they represented that he no longer felt the need to check them. The dancing instruments now without either audience or purpose stilled their dance and fell silent and no one would be any the wiser._

Albus blinked and restrained the urge to face palm

 _'Merlin dammit me'_

Merlin that sounded weird even in his head

 _As this was happening Harry had appeared kneeling on rocky ground. The darkness at the edges of his vision was no longer just a product of imagination. The air around him felt heavy and tainted but he could not find the energy to care. As the last of his vision was swallowed in darkness he caught a glimpse of two young women approaching slowly and carefully._

 _The odd thing about them apart from their unusual white dresses which where reminiscent of ancient Greece was the colour of both their hair and eyes._

 _Purple._

"And that's it"

James put down the book with a sigh and those gathered fell silent contemplating what they'd just learned

James and Lily had never before felt so grateful for surviving that horrible night so long ago.

Ron and Hermione as sickened as they were, were just glad it hadn't happened to their Harry

Dumbledore..Dumbledore didn't know what to think honestly, he was baffled, what kind of person treated family like that, and a child no less

Snape was silent, lost in the memories of his own childhood

The twins were the first to calm down

Rose spoke with a shuddering breath "So, who reads next?"

The room's occupants looked at eachother before Lily raised her hand

"I guess I'll go next" she said hesitantly taking the book from the table

"Chapter 2- Two of the Three"

* * *

Well that's the first chapter and honestly

I really don't think I did so well, but I did my best, maybe its just me

Review me what you think

Thanks for reading see you next chapter


	3. Chapter 2

**OK I know I know**

 **"BladeofHell56 what the hell took you so long?!"**

 **And I understand and apologize, especially to Lupine Horror for the wait**

 **However if you'll look into the reviews you'll see a message from Exhalted Demi-Soul (YOU RULE DUDE! (^** ‿ **^) ) mentioning that I'm unfortunately going through some technical difficulties, honestly this came out sooner than expected since I managed to borrow my mom's laptop for a while.**

 **Alright with that said, time for the next chapter of Reading Fate's Gamble**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing here, not even the main story, that's Lupine Horror's though I do have permission to use it.**

* * *

Lily took the book and opened it to the page after the first chapter

 ** _Chapter 2 – Two of the Three_**

 ** _Harry came to slowly and felt everything around him as he became reacquainted with his five senses. He felt firm ground beneath his back, preferable to the rocky and jagged terrain from when he was last aware. He heard the wind a distance away as it blew past wherever he was. He could taste how dry the air around him was and there was an earthy scent to everything. Perhaps he was indoors somewhere and could smell the garden out of a window. That was until he opened his eyes. He looked around at the cave in which he lay. There was nothing about it that seemed particularly unusual but something had him on edge, it may have been how clean everything was or how smooth the floor and walls where._**

Lily paused "I've no idea what's written here, what language is this?"

Several people blinked in surprise before Dumbledore looked over her shoulder and read out the line

 ** _"Έτσι, ο μικρός άνθρωπος είναι ξύπνιος τότε;" a voice behind him made him jump._**

"What?" Ron interrupted with a confused look on his face, on mirrored by most of the others in the room.

"I do believe that to be Greek" Dumbledore said

"Greek? Seri-Really?" James said with a disgruntled look on his face, changing what he was going to say when he saw Padfoot opening his mouth no doubt for that old pun of his again.

Dumbledore nodded "Quite, fortunately while I am not fluent I do believe I know enough to at least have a general idea of what is being said, in this case it is something along the lines of 'So, the little man is awake then?'"

Dumbledore turned to Lily "If they're going to be speaking Greek then I believe that perhaps I should read for now, you can read the next chapter"

Lily nodded and handed him the book "That sounds fair"

 ** _"Φαίνεται έτσι. Αναρωτιέμαι ποιο λόγο θα δώσει για την παρουσία του στο νησί μας."_** _(It seems so, I wonder what reason he has for coming to our island)_

 ** _He turned and saw the two women from before he lost consciousness. They were beautiful, with the appearance of late teens if not for their rather exotic colouring. They had long purple hair tied in two tails either side of their head that almost reached the floor. They wore unusual dresses edged in black and wore matching bands across the top of their hair and some sort of choker around their necks and upper arms. One had three purple bangles around her right arm where the other didn't. This was really the only physical indicator that differentiated them as they where nigh identical. The only other thing that was different was their bearing. The one with the bangles on her wrist was eying him warily with her arms crossed in front of her and had been the second one to speak. The other had an air of mischief about herself that was at odds with her twins cautious manner. Both once again had identical light purple eyes that told a story all of their own. They contained a number of emotions but the only ones he could pick up were sadness and a touch of regret._**

The portrait on the wall once again began swirling before settling on the image of the two described in the book. Even the women couldn't help but gape at the two beautiful girls that were shown.

Ron gulped "W-wow"

"They kind of look like what Harry does now don't they?"

People blinked and looked at Rose

She shrugged

"Well they do"

Blake nodded

"Especially the hair"

They turned back and regarded the two on the screen again, huh, now that they look there really is a resemblance

 ** _"E-excuse me but I don't understand you. Can you speak English?" Harry asked timidly._**

 ** _"περίεργος. Αυτό ακούγεται παράξενο δεν είναι; Αναρωτιέμαι τι λέει; Είναι σίγουρα δεν είναι ελληνική."_** _(_ _Curious. That sounds strange. I wonder what it is? It certainly isn't Greek)_ ** _the first said with curiosity evident in her voice._**

 ** _"Φαίνεται όχι. Δεν φαίνεται καν να γνωρίζουν πού είναι ή ποιοι είμαστε. Δυστυχώς, χωρίς να μιλούν την ίδια γλώσσα δεν είμαστε στερημένοι από τους τρόπους για να τον αμφισβητήσει."_** _ _(It seems not. They do not seem like they know where they are or who we are. Unfortunately, not speaking the same language we are deprived of the means to challenge him)__ ** _The other said in a more bland tone_**

Everyone grew a bit nervous at that.

"What exactly does she mean by challenge" Lily muttered nervously

 ** _"Αναρωτιέμαι αν ένα φίδι θα μπορούσε να φοβίσει κάποιο νόημα γι 'αυτόν;"_** _(_ _I wonder if a snake could scare some sense to him_ _)_

"What?! They're setting a snake on him?!" Hermione nearly panicked before Rose sighed in relief

"Oh Good it's just a snake"

"Almost had us worried there for a second"

Hermione rounded on her, her panicked mind not coming to the conclusion they had

"Just a snake?! That's your brother, even if he's just an alternate, how could-"

Ron tapped her shoulder, getting her attention

"Harry's a parselmouth, remember Mione" He muttered lowly to her and she blinked as a slight blush came to her face

"Oh" She regarded the twins who now both looked at her with raise eyebrows and amused expressions

"Sorry" she muttered turning back to Dumbledore

She chose to pretend that she didn't hear the snickering behind her.

 ** _She then walked past him to the mouth of the cave. His eyes tracked her as he shuffled up against the wall trying to keep the other woman in his peripheral view. While he had no reason to distrust them he had learned by now in his few short years that he shouldn't trust everyone without reason._**

Snape nodded to himself at that, he may not go around screaming CONSTANT VIGILANCE at people like a certain auror, but he knew the importance of not letting your guard down around new people.

 ** _Euryale watched as her sister passed by the boy on her way to fetch a snake and wondered how this boy would react. Since the loss of their sister so long ago each had found an emotional outlet to prevent them falling into the same state as their poor sister had._**

Lily blinked and narrowed her eyes in suspicion, there was a third sister? Her mind took in everything so far, their names, their resemblence to Harry flashed back to Harry's wand.

 _'Oh dear, are those the real-'_

 ** _Whereas Euryale had found that not taking everything seriously allowed her attention to wander and not focus on the negative memories she possessed, Stheno had taken to being pretty much ambivalent to anything and everything that occurred. The sun rises in the east? Yeah it does that. A tree grows from seedling to mighty oak? Yeah, I saw it happen. Random child appears out of thin air? Drag him up to the cave and keep a careful watch over him just in case._**

Sirius snorted and was immediately smacked over the back of his head

"Ow, Lily!"

She just raised an eyebrow at him.

He looked at James who snorted and turned back to Dumbledore, the message was clear

'You're on your own Pads'

He slumped and started muttering under his breath as Dumbledore continued reading

 ** _This had been the most unusual thing to happen in recent times. Hell it had been pretty much the only thing of note in the past three millenia since they had lost their younger sister._**

Dumbledore paused

"I must have misread that." he muttered

 ** _Hell it had been pretty much the only thing of note in the past three millenia since they had lost their younger sister._**

 ** _three millenia since they had lost their younger sister_**

 ** _three millenia_**

"Oh dear"

James snorted

"Well, these girls must clearly be deluded, no witch or wizard could live that long"

Lily, Rose and Blake rolled their eyes

It still amazed them how much wizards have deluded themselves into thinking they're the most important beings around, they'd believed it at first but you'd think after Harry had blatantly showed them beings of divine origin existed they'd get the message

Aphro-frickin-dite hangs around Hogwarts for kicks now and they _still_ refuse to accept it.

The sheer level of denial was impressive actually.

 ** _Since then no one had entered their island and they had not left. It seemed humans were no longer capable of visiting them whether there intentions be pure or debased. She wondered what had happened in the passing of time. However one thing she had noticed that Stheno had paid no attention to was the injuries the child bore. Stheno might not care other than it showed he was not strong enough to do anything to them but Euryale had a slight feeling of unease. As far as she could tell the marks where put there with human strength and looked to be meant as a means of torture, honestly! Humans could be sure unpleasant beings at times._**

Snape muttered lowly to himself at those _things_ being called human

 ** _After Stheno had left Harry looked at the other one and she looked to be evaluating him. A look of disgust crossed her face and Harry hoped he was not the cause of that as he was in no position to fight back if attacked even if the attacker was a half-dead poodle._**

 ** _Steps from the cave mouth alerted him to the return of the other of the duo. He turned to her and his eyes widened and his nostrils slit in fear. Draped over her neck was a huge snake almost as thick as his own torso and long enough that despite wrapping around her neck and body still trailed a ways behind her._**

The frame image once again shifted to display the snake in question

Rose whistled

"That is one big snake" her twin commented

"What species is that anyways?" Hermione asked curiously

"Who cares its just a slimy snake?" Ron said loudly with James nodding in agreement

They were of course completely ignored.

 ** _He froze as the large reptile uncurled from the woman and slithered towards him. It was about two feet away when Harry broke out of his daze and began muttering under his breath "Please don't eat me, Please don't eat me" not noticing the two women turn and look at him sharply. The snake also seemed to recoil in surprise._**

 ** _Then Harry froze as something new happened, and he had thought he'd fulfilled his quota of strangeness already, the snake spoke._**

 ** _"So you are not unintelligent are you man-child, what are you doing here on the island of my mistresses?" it questioned dragging out and hissing all the s's._**

Whatever residual worry had remained in Lily melted away at the positive response

 ** _"I don't know where I am, I am sorry to say I don't even know who your mistresses are and could you please say sorry to them for me?"_**

 ** _It was then that Euryale couldn't hold it any longer. She giggled. Drawing the looks of Stheno and the child along with the snake. She looked from Stheno who had raised an eyebrow at her to the child looking at her with hesitant eyes to the snake next to him that had a knowing glint in its eyes. To think, after all this time alone on the shapeless isle. The first human that had arrived in three thousand years ended up speaking the language of snakes? She giggled once again before devolving into a laughing fit from the sheer irony of it all._**

James again pursed his lips, again with the three thousand years thing, ok tthe two might not be quite so delusional, had they discovered some way to live that long, some kind of ancient philosipher stone or something?

 ** _The snake looked from the gorgon convulsing in laughter to the other who still stood in the cave mouth and spoke "Seeing as your sister is so out of sorts at present please may I convey this lad's apology to you for his seemingly unknowing trespass from him to you"_**

 ** _"My thanks to you and my sister has always been a few trees short of a forest so it is no great loss"_**

 ** _Harry looked at the woman for a moment before remembering his voice "I thought you couldn't speak English?"_**

Several people shook their heads, the boy seriously hadn't realized?

 ** _"English? Was that the language you spoke before? Nevertheless listen to yourself now. You are no more speaking English than I am speaking Greek right now. You are speaking the language of snakes as can be confirmed by our scaled friend here."_**

 ** _Harry blinked and looked from the woman to the snake, back to the woman and finally to the snake again who nodded at him. Now many people would be freaked out long before they got to this point but Harry had far passed that point and as nothing had yet happened to him he decided to relax a little and take what was presented him at face value._**

Snape rolled his eyes, honestly letting his guard down so easily, how utterly like a _Potter_

 ** _Stheno seeing the boy relax a little decided they might as well get introductions out of the way. "Seeing as this is the only language we share it would be best to converse like this for now. Now that it seems my sister has gotten past her convulsions it would be remiss of us not to introduce ourselves, as it seems you do not know us, and then we can find out the means by which you arrived here. My name is Stheno and hers is Euryale. May I ask for yours?"_**

 ** _This was surreal for Stheno. She was having a civil conversation with a human and he didn't come here either voluntarily or seeking her beauty and, on top of that, they were speaking as snakes would. Perhaps this particular human wasn't so bad she thought._**

 ** _Harry had also paused but for a completely different reason. He had read books at school and borrowed ones from the library. Myths and legends had been the only books that the Dursley's allowed that even suggested the existence of a more supernatural world, one of gods and monsters and ones of magic and heroes. He had paused because he had recognised the two names she had used as an introduction._**

 ** _"My name is Harry. Excuse me but did you say your names where Stheno and Euryale?" Harry questioned. Stheno blinked at this but replied in the affirmative. After being questioned why he responded gaining Euryale's attention as well this time._**

 ** _"As far as I am aware those two names are the names of two of the gorgon sisters from Greek mythology but they seem to be somewhat inaccurate"_**

 ** _It was Euryale who asked this time "Oh? Inaccurate in what way? And what do you mean by us being myths?"_**

The elder purebloods perked up curious as to how the muggle legends portrayed these two who were obviously witches of some sort, after all they could be nothing else

 ** _"Well as far as I was aware there was no such thing as the gorgons or gods. The heroes mentioned are just story characters and the legends just more stories._**

James and Ron nodded, Hermione started looking unsure

 ** _In the gorgon myth Medusa was a handmaiden and she and Poseiden were having sex in Athena's temple and Athena cursed Medusa and her sisters to be ugly forever. Medusa was supposed to be so ugly that the mere sight of her face turned anyone who looked at her to stone. They where exiled to the Shapeless Isle where they terrorized humans for a long time. Stheno was supposed to be the most vicious of the three. Later a hero by the name of Perseus came along and removed Medusa's head, He was able to see by looking in her reflection in a polished shield. He left with his prize, her head and used it to stop a sea monster if I recall correctly as he kept her head in a bag and then revealed it to a sea serpent. Perseus' only comment on Medusa's fate was that it was 'well deserved'. The only continuation of the story was the two children of Medusa. A pegasus and a warrior named Chrysaor who both sprang from the decapitated neck of Medusa's corpse, the latter already clad in golden armour and fully grown. The only other aspect of the legend is the gorgons supposedly having snakes for hair. There are variations of this such as one where Poseiden raped Medusa instead of her making love willingly but that is the general story as I know it.'"_**

James furrowed his brow

"These are the kinds of stories muggles tell their children?"

Rape and Murder as bed time stories, lovely.

Lily rolled her eyes

"Oh honestly James they're not kids stories or anything, rather we should just consider it amazing Harry knew so much about it, he must really love to read." She commented with a smile, alternate or not she was very happy for her son's intelligence and knowledge at such an early age

 ** _The two sisters looked at each other and blinked, stunned by what they had heard. The humans no longer knew they existed? They did not even believe them possible? Even more amusing they thought all of their heroes of old to be nothing more than children's stories? But they had gotten it wrong and Stheno immediately set to rectify that with this one child, Harry he had said his name was._**

 ** _"As for being two of the gorgon sisters that is correct but that is almost all that is correct. We were never human hand maidens. We were born from the wishes of people that desired perfect gods unlike the flawed gods the Greeks worshiped. We came into being as we are and our sister Medusa was the youngest but unlike us was born a mortal, long-lived surely but as a mortal she still aged while we remained unchanged. As for turning people to stone she had something known as mystic eyes, eyes that can affect the world they see. The mystic eyes of Cybele that our sister possessed can indeed turn mortal flesh to stone with no chance of it being reversed. As far as lying with a male, not one of us three have lost our virginity and the pegasus you mentioned was a gift from Poseidon, not a child. Chrysaor is not a name I recognise and as none of us have slept with another then he could not be a gorgon's child. In older days we lived amongst the people and lived a happy life. The only regret that we possess is making fun of our sister's eyes and advancing age, which I freely admit was most childish of us. This was not to last forever as the gods grew angered and turned our people against us. We were banished here to the Shapeless Isle as it is known. The beauty of my sister and myself was known far and wide. Men came to claim us for their own and Medusa took to guarding the island and devouring those who sought after our beauty. She became twisted by peoples' beliefs. Eventually she transformed into a monster by appearance and we knew we had lost her. We did not want to leave her and allowed ourselves to be consumed by her hoping to be closer to her and to soothe her pain. We were eaten by our sister but like the gods when consumed by Kronos we did not die a final death. We remained within her for a long time. The next clear memory I possess is waking next to my sister's rotting corpse. The decay must have freed us from her stomach. The occasional man would still come to the island intending to gain our favour but that slowly stopped. From them we learnt how our sister expired. Being the only mortal one of us, and what we have heard of this Perseus is less than flattering. An inflated ego and no redeeming qualities or skills to his name other than being an opportunist. We have been here since then, some two thousand years since the last man arrived to woo us."_**

Eyes gradually widened as the girl went on

Hermione could no longer deny it, that was too well crafted to be simple fantasy, these women, these Goddesses were real.

 _'No way no way no way, impossible, they're clearly lying, the so called Gods and Goddesses were just powerful wizards and witches...right?'_ James seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown

Lily was shocked, she'd figured that the hair in Harry's wand came from these two but, to think, Harries wand contained hair from actual Goddesses, it was amazing

Ron wasn't paying attention

"Hey when's lunch I'm starving?"

A note appeared infront of him

 **This is the second chapter, You've not been here an hour you glutton, suck it up.**

 **-Observer**

 **PS. Hurry it up already, get to the good parts so I can watch you idiots freak out! (ಠ益ಠ)**

His subsequent whining was ignored

 ** _Euryale took over from her sister "You can stay the night and we will see about returning you to your family come morning._**

Everyone scowled at the thought of Harry going back to those animals

 ** _If the gods truly have no hold on the world then we no longer have reason to remain here as there is none to enforce our banishment." Noticing the wince at the mention of his family Euryale's eyes narrowed. The wounds on his body had been put there by human hand undoubtedly but was it possible... "Harry, who gave you your wounds?" she asked, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. She and Stheno may have made fun of Medusa's differences but it was not done out of malice, they were a family after all. They were all each other had. Stheno's gaze met hers and sharpened. If there was one thing they agreed on it was that family was important, they had after all willingly let their sister consume them and there were few others who would do that, even for family._**

Several nodded and Dumbledore smiled to himself, perhaps these two weren't so bad an influence on the lad after all.

 ** _Harry mulled over his thoughts. He could tell them or he could not tell them. If he did, what then? They might not return him to them then and he would be free or they may not even believe him and send him back anyway. On the other hand he might not tell them but that would leave him floundering for an answer to where he got the injuries. It was personal but he also lost nothing by telling them. So, with this in mind, he braced himself, took a breath and began._**

 ** _"My uncle, he blames me for anything that goes wrong, he sometimes beats me or locks me in a cupboard under the stairs without food. This was a really bad one though. He had lost a big business deal earlier and was already drunk when I got home. I tried to sneak past but he noticed me before I could escape."_**

 ** _Euryale and Stheno once again met gazes. They silently acknowledged that such a thing was utterly reprehensible. They agreed that now that they were free of their confinement they would pay a visit to Harry's dear relatives before they did anything else._**

Lily smiled coldly at that thought, honestly she couldn't help but look forward to such a meeting, wouldn't even feel bad for her ex-sister.

 ** _They wanted to see the world and how it had changed and now they had the chance. Even before they where banished they had never seen much more than their island but they had heard stories of all sorts near and far and longed for the day they could experience it themselves. If things where as Harry here said then they supposed one more travel companion would not be amiss. Then Euryale said it was his uncle who did this. Where were his parents when this was happening?_**

 ** _"Harry, what about your mother and father? Why didn't they do anything about this?"_**

 ** _Harry shuffled his feet a moment before replying, "They're dead - they died when I was one. My aunt and uncle say they died in a car crash while drunk but I don't know what really happened, somehow I don't believe them_**

 ** _Several snarled at that, Lily and James were nearly apocalyptic with rage_**

A car crash?! They tried to tell Harry that they'd died in a bloody car crash?!

 ** _"A car crash? What is a car?" Euryale asked. It was this that reminded Harry that despite their apparent youth the two women in front of him had been out of contact with the rest of the world since the time of the Roman Empire. Before he could reply Stheno interrupted his thoughts "It doesn't matter right now. Right now it's late and we will sleep before setting off tomorrow. Harry has been out of it for a day and we have yet to feed him. I believe there are a few fruit trees nearby that are in season and then we shall sleep." With that she turned and left the cave in search of sustenance for Harry. Euryale blinked, shrugged and then turned to Harry "While my sister is doing that let's see if I can do anything for your wounds"_**

Hermione sighed in relief along with Rose, Blake and Lily, while the men other than Snape just smiled, glad that Harry was finally getting some treatment for the abuse heaped on him

 ** _It wasn't until Harry found himself tucked between the two gorgons as they were going to sleep, with the snake curled up at their feet and comfortably full on a most unusual fruit he did not recognize, that Harry finally thought 'Perhaps things won't be so bad after all'._**

 ** _As he drifted off to sleep the world outside their cave kept going as it always had and one particular Wizard Marshall sitting alone in the clocktower remembered yesterday's experiment and wondered if anything would come of it, not realizing yet that it already had._**

"That's the end of the chapter" Dumbledore said

* * *

 **Ugh, I hate beginning chapters** **(ಠ益ಠ)**

 **Well not reading them, but writing them, I'm not good at it, even I can't wait to finally reach the plot**

 **See you guys next time!**


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